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Staff Professional Development (ACES & Trauma-Informed Schools)

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AWSP SPONSORED EDUCATIONAL SCREENING

The Association of Washington School Principals is sponsoring the purchase of the documentary film Paper Tigers for simultaneous screenings at schools across Washington state on Wednesday, March 16, 2016. You provide the venue, projector, and audience, and AWSP sponsors your school with the film and digital tools from Tugg to make the screening a success. Viewing and discussing Paper Tigers is a professional development conversation on Trauma Informed Care for your staff and an opportunity to engage your community. FEBRUARY 19, 2016 registration deadline has passed.

FILM FORMAT OPTIONS: A disc will be mailed to you by March 9, 2016 when choosing the DVD film format options. We recommend discussion leaders view the film prior to March 15, 2016 and review the discussion guide. Once received, the film is yours for future screenings and study. Choosing the Streaming License option allows your school to access an online platform to view the film. With the Streaming License your staff can utilize tools to pull clips and make notes for further study.

AWSP sponsored 80 schools and districts across Washington with their viewing of Paper Tigers!

Screening FAQ

IS THE FILM RATED?The film is not rated. It does contain some profanity.

HOW DO WE PUBLICIZE OUR SCREENING?In the PRESS KIT, you’ll find sample emails, Facebook posts, press releases, tips, digital fliers, and all the info you’ll need to successfully promote your screening. We’ll also publicize your event on the Paper Tigers website and on social media.

WHAT TYPE OF TECHNOLOGY IS NEEDED TO SCREEN PAPER TIGERS? Paper Tigers will be delivered in Blu-Ray, DVD, or DCP format depending on your needs. The film should be screened in an auditorium-type setting that can be suitably dimmed and projected via a high-quality projector. The cinematography is spectacular and is best showcased in a dark room with quality technology.

ABOUT THE FILM

Paper Tigers is an intimate look into the lives of selected students at Lincoln High School, an alternative school that specializes in educating traumatized youth. Set amidst the rural community of Walla Walla, WA, the film intimately examines the inspiring promise of Trauma Informed Communities - a movement that is showing great promise in healing youth struggling with the dark legacy of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES).

Exposure to chronic and adverse stress (and the altered brain function that results) leaves a child in a fruitless search for comfort and escape from a brain and body that is permanently stuck in flight or fight. That comfort comes in the form of drugs, cigarettes, alcohol, sex, food and more.

Every year, millions of unloved and traumatized youth enter adulthood with damaged brains and hearts. They are highly predisposed to die from self-destructive behaviors, and highly likely to continue the cycle of abuse. Even those who do not engage in self destructive behaviors are highly predisposed to get cancer, high blood pressure, diabetes, and immune disorders.

The impact of unloved and traumatized children on society is profound and widespread. 85% of inmates were traumatized as youth. 27% of hospital visits can be traced to causes linked to childhood trauma. Hurt kids grow up to hurt people. The generational cycles of trauma and abuse are as stubborn as they are tragic.

But there is hope.

There are doctors, researchers, teachers, nurses, social workers and law enforcement officers that are turning the tide against the cycle of trauma and abuse. A movement is rising, one that sees aberrant behavior in children as a symptom rather than a moral failing. This movement asks not what is wrong with our youth, but rather what has happened to them. The paradigm is shifting from punishment and blame to a deeper commitment to understanding and healing the underlying causes of aberrant behavior. With this shifting paradigm comes the promise of great improvements in many of the society’s costly ills: less crime, less illness, less teen pregnancy, abuse, rape, divorce.

Simply put, it is cheaper to heal than to punish. Paper Tigers takes a look at what is possible.

Paper Tigers captures the pain, the danger, the beauty, and the hopes of struggling teens and the teachers armed with new science and fresh approaches that are changing their lives for the better.

The Association of Washington Student Leaders is a division of the Association of Washington School Principals